approximate

[ adjective uh-prok-suh-mit; verb uh-prok-suh-meyt ]

adjective

1. near or approaching a certain state, condition, goal, or standard.
2. nearly exact; not perfectly accurate or correct:

   The approximate time was 10 o'clock.

3. near; close together.
4. very similar; nearly identical.

verb (used with object)

, ap·prox·i·mat·ed, ap·prox·i·mat·ing.

1. to come near to; approach closely to:

   to approximate an ideal.

2. to estimate:

   We approximated the distance at three miles.

3. to simulate; imitate closely:

   The motions of the stars can be approximated in a planetarium.

4. to bring near.

verb (used without object)

, ap·prox·i·mat·ed, ap·prox·i·mat·ing.

1. to come near in position, character, amount, etc.

approximate

adjective

1. almost accurate or exact
2. inexact; rough; loose

   only an approximate fit

3. much alike; almost the same
4. near; close together

verb

1. usually foll by to to come or bring near or close; be almost the same (as)
2. See accurate
   maths to find an expression for (some quantity) accurate to a specified degree See accurate

Derived Forms

• apˈproximative, adjective

Other Words From

• ap·proxi·mate·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of approximate¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin approximātus drawn near to, approached (past participle of approximāre ). See ap- ¹, proximate

Word History and Origins

Origin of approximate¹

C15: from Late Latin approximāre, from Latin proximus nearest, from prope near

Example Sentences

In the absence of live interactions, we must do our best as a society to approximate them.

From Washington Post

Of the approximate 1,800 fatalities from mid-May to mid-June, 70 percent were people older than 70.

From Washington Post

Some brands pack on features that allow users to more closely approximate the cinematic experience, but if you’re in the HD range, you’re already on your way.

From Popular-Science

I would never have figured out on my own that Braun-Meuser-Case was supposed to approximate “brand-new suitcase.”

From Washington Post

Solver Alex Vornsand approximated the size of this region by picking random points in the circle and seeing how many would have resulted in a balanced disk.

From FiveThirtyEight

Total approximate retail value of all prizes awarded is $ 3899.97.

From The Daily Beast

By 2018, Chinese wealth is expected to approximate the level of US wealth in 1993.

From The Daily Beast

I figure out the approximate outline, the sequence of subject matter for the chapter, numbering the material.

From The Daily Beast

And nobody had reported a missing child of that approximate age.

From The Daily Beast

The red line is the approximate break-even price of the average tar sands producer.

From The Daily Beast

For accuracy, 500 to 1000 leukocytes must be classified; for approximate results, 200 are sufficient.

From Project Gutenberg

His skin was of so light a yellow color as to approximate to dirty white, and his face was pock-marked from neck to crown.

From Project Gutenberg

They are for the most part straight, and intersect each other at approximate right angles.

From Project Gutenberg

It is impossible to arrive at even an approximate estimate of the number of victims of the early persecutions.

From Project Gutenberg

The approximate date is probably about the middle of the fifteenth century.

From Project Gutenberg